Effect of the w/v ratio and sheet thickness on mechanical properties of magnesium alloy FSWed joints

The present investigation aims at studying the effect of the ratio between rotational speed and welding speed on the mechanical properties, such as the ultimate tensile strength and ductility, of friction stir welded joints in AZ 31 alloy sheets. To this purpose, FSW experiments were performed with different values of the omega/v ratio. The influence of the sheet thickness was also investigated. It was observed that an increase in the omega/v ratio produces an increase in the UTS and strain to failure up to a peak followed by a decrease, and that an increase in the sheet thickness leads to a reduction of the omega/v ratio at which the peak values are obtained.